Archive for ‘Blog’

41 items.

It’s Decorating Time!

September 1st, 2010 | by Carl
Posted In: Blog

As you can see, I’m starting the annual overhaul of the site. There has been some changes this year, but now it’s time to start giving the place a bit of a clean up.

It’s not going to be an overnight sort of change, but more of gradual changes that will add things and take things away, until it gets to its desired look and feel. It also covers for any chances of glitches or screw-ups that could mess up the site.

So, bare with the site, as it goes through it’s regeneration, from one look to the next.

The Place is Gonna Get a Bit of a Redecorating

August 30th, 2010 | by Carl
Posted In: Blog

For the past week or so, I’ve been looking at the main page, and I’ve been pondering that it’s time it went through a bit of a redo. Nothing too drastic, mind you. Just something to give it a fresh look. Do some tweaks and maybe lighten the place up a bit.

Time to fire up Photoshop and come up with some ideas…

Not Going to Comic-Con This Year

July 20th, 2010 | by Carl
Posted In: Blog

The wife and I opted not to attend San Diego Comic-Con this year, and it feels so strange and sad. Whilst all the people I know and my friends pack and make their annual pilgrimage to the ultimate yearly geek prom, I sit here and feel the overwhelming sensation that I’ve just handed in my final Geek Card.

SDCC was the one major convention each year where I got to hang out with my friends and made new friends, whilst enjoying the feeling of belonging, even amongst people I did not yet know. It was the one place I could easily cut loose, let my hair down and meet my peers in the webcomic community.

This year, instead, I will be staring at the walls of my home office and wondering what I’m going to do for next week’s strips, whilst deeply wishing I was wandering around the great expanses of the San Diego Convention Center.

Oh well, next year…

Did I Mention This?

June 4th, 2010 | by Carl
Posted In: Blog

The first year’s anthology of Geeks – the Comic Strip is now available to buy, via IndyPlanet.

The book is a nice sumptuous and filling read, with a nice shiny cover and crisp black and white artwork within. Along with the first year of the archive, are new pieces of artwork, sketches and things that will tease you with things to come.

Just pop over to http://www.indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3755 and order your copy, today.

Sorry for Monday’s Rant

May 31st, 2010 | by Carl
Posted In: Blog

Hey, folks, I have to say sorry for Monday’s unleashed rant. I have to admit that the Los Angeles Rock’N Comic Con was an unmitigated disaster. It was the perfect lesson in how to mismanage and misorganise everything, whilst burning every single bridge with every local artist, talent and comic vendor in the Southern California area.

It was a ham-fisted blunder of epic proportions, and I felt so bad about the whole event that I even said sorry to Stan Lee via  Twitter message, even though I was just a humble artist, amongst other unhappy artists in the convention’s poorly set up Artists Alley.

I would post pictures of how empty the event was during the whole weekend, but its just too depressing. I was expecting to see some vendors actually hanging themselves from the scaffolding.

I sincerely hope the idiots who set up this con never have the chance to ever shame the idea and concept of a comic convention ever again.

They did bring together a group of talented local artists into one building, and then proceeded to make a complete botch-up of the entire show. But, all us artists spoke and we laid down some ideas of getting together at a better event.

I made new friends and shared new ideas. For one brief glimmering moment I felt welcomed into a bigger world. It was the only light in a sea of out of control chaos and mess.

To my fellow artists who suffered and braved through the Los Angeles (Not) Rock’N Comic Con, I look forward to standing with you in the trenches of better comic conventions and march onwards to greater glories, and leave this sad episode behind us, to only look back at, during times when we need a good laugh.

To Mat Nastos, Shawn Granger, Gerimi Burleigh, Donna Letterese, and all the other wonderful artists, I say a huge and heart-felt thank you for your shining and fun-filled company. I look forward to future cons with you all.

And, as to the “organisers” of Los Angeles Rock’N Comic-Con all I can say is “Don’t give up your day jobs, as you certainly couldn’t organise even a piss-up in a brewery!”

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Getting things ready for my first convention

May 7th, 2010 | by Carl
Posted In: Blog

The book is off to the publisher. The banner is being printed, and I’m trying to sort through strips and find which ones I should get printed on large card-stock, to display at my table. Getting ready for my first convention, as an artist, is pretty nerve-wracking. I want to make a good first impression to the world at large, but I also want to have some major fun.

I’ll be having the book on sale, and will, all going well, have some T-shirts to sell. I’ll be spending the con eagerly awaiting the readers of this very strip and making some new friends and bringing this strip to a much larger audience. I’ll be drawing sketches and I’ll also be doing a special strip that week, that has connections to what I’ll be doing and bringing that into the world of my characters.

On another note, this week I’ve been playing with the trial version of the new Adobe Photoshop CS5, and in my fullest and most honest opinion, I’m really enjoying it. It feels more intuitive and free-slowing. The new brushes are a blast, and it’s more in tune with tablet users. The lines are more fluid in their strokes, when you have things set to your prefered pen pressure, and you get some amazing line-work and detail when you mix and match with the different brushes.

I’ll be experimenting with it this weekend, when I’m not doing strips, and I’ll really play around with all the new features, including the new 3D effects. And, you know that when this badboy hits retail in the next week or so, I’ll be getting my dirty little hands on it and having some really good fun with it.

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Geeks – the Comic Strip, Book 1 goes to Print.

April 28th, 2010 | by Carl
Posted In: Blog

This is the big news, folks. The first year of this very webcomic will be available to buy in graphic novel form this coming May. Yes, that’s right, in book form.

The whole first year of G-TCS, when it was hosted on that awful comic-hosting site, whose mascot is an inebriated water-foul, will be yours to read, with some added little doodles and wonders, never before available, her or anywhere else.

Here’s the cover -

Also, the other part of the big news is that I will be appearing at the Pasadena Rock n’ Comic-Con, this coming May 28th through to the 30th, at the Pasadena Convention Center, in Pasadena, CA. I’ll be there to meet all the readers, make friends, gain new readers and sell the trade of the above mentioned first year’s archive.

I’ll be signing the book, doing some doodles, having fun, and getting to know everyone in attendance.

For more info about the Pasadena Rock n’ Comic Con, please visit http://www.pasadenacomiccon.com/ for more info.

Geeks – the Comic Strip, Book One: Storming the Wrong Castle will go on sale during the Pasadena Rock’n ComicCon, and then will also be available via this site, and you can also find it on sale at the Panderson n’ Stuff booth (#802) at Frank and Son Collectible Show, in City of Industry, CA (just got to get a nice plug for the booth I run.)

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That Whooshing Sound

March 31st, 2010 | by Carl
Posted In: Blog

I’ve been grateful for this week’s help from my buddy, Mat Nastos. He offered to draw up a bunch of strips for me, and so I gladly accepted the offer, so I could take the advantage of the time freed up, so I could get other things done.

However, a week flies by pretty fast when you’re trying to tidy up your first year’s archives and come up with some ideas and material, that would all happily fit together, into something that will be revealed very soon.

But, like my favourite author, Douglas Adams, I got distracted by the very loud whooshing sound that was made by a deadline flying right past me and out of the window, to it’s fate.

So, now I sit here, with only a few more strips to clean up, and a lot of writing to do, to go with said strips. What I am working on, will be something that I hope to reveal around the time of my impending birthday in May, and also in time for the upcoming Pasadena Rock’n Comic Con, later said month.

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Messing with Mediums

March 19th, 2010 | by Carl
Posted In: Blog

This past week, which you may notice, I’ve been using brushes instead of my usual copic ink pens to draw the strips. My pal, Mat Nastos, suggested I try using brush pens to alter the looks of my lines, and so I took his advice and tried out a few brush pens.

Granted, it still looks a tad wobbley, but I’m finding the experience of messing with different types of pens and brushes quite fun. So much so, I found myself getting my old strips and redrawing them in Photoshop, with the brush tools. I’m in the process of cleaning up and re-outlaying the first year’s strips for a reason, which shall be revealed later in the year, but whilst doing that, I’m picking odd strips and trying them out with brushes and in colour.

The finished product I may well be sharing with you all, in the near future.

No, I didn’t go to Gallifrey 21.

March 5th, 2010 | by Carl
Posted In: Blog

Before you wonder if I attended Gallifrey 21, this past weekend at the Marriott near the LAX, let me say that I didn’t. I was considering going, but other things took more presidence, and I decided to not go along. Many of my friends did, and they have some wonderful photos on their Facebook pages.

My storyline in the strip revolves around a Doctor Who convention, which may or may not be Gallifrey. I’m just using things that happened at conventions in the past, which I attended, both in the US and the UK.

Do I wish that I could have gone to Gallifrey 21? Maybe… perhaps… not sure. I guess doing a webcomic and running a retail business, as well as being a husband, does tend to eat up a lot of time and makes you set things in certain priorities, and certain things have to take their place lower on the ladder of things. It sometimes makes me feel that I’ve passed up on chances of hanging out with friends and having some fun. But, you have to when you have responsibilities.

Heck, I’m not even attending San Diego Comic-Con this year. Next year, however, will be a different matter, and I am planning on making my fizzog more apparent at numerous geek and fan gatherings. I’ve got some things planned and have some other things in planning stages.

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